Peacocks Prevail: How Thirteen Disadvantaged Post-Bacs Got into Dental School
Objective: Students from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds often experience difficulties entering dental school. Post-baccalaureate programs, help such individuals prepare academically and grant access to professional networks and extracurricular experiences. Little qualitative research focuses on narratives of dental school candidates to characterize their journeys to dental school. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify themes that disadvantaged post-bac students highlight while reporting their backgrounds and post-bac experience.
Method: Thirteen students participating in the Dental Post-Baccalaureate Program at San Francisco State University, the 2013 cohort known as Peacocks, chronicled their struggles to enter dental school, their experience in the program and their future plans. For the qualitative analysis, two coders reviewed these narratives using directed content analysis. Matriculation data will be collected when available.
Result: Among the participants, mean age was 26.6 years (±2.9; range 23-32); 6 were female, 2 African American, 4 Hispanic, 3 Asian American, 3 from Middle Eastern origin. Themes characterizing their backgrounds included immigrant family of origin, war-torn country of origin, refugee status, family illness, underserved community, economic hardship, childhood fascination with dentistry, personal experience with dentistry. Themes centering on the post-bac program highlight their appreciation of laboratory experiencing, assisting, research, teaching and mentorship. Themes identified around future plans included expanding access to dental care, providing care in underserved communities, providing for family of origin. Examples of themes (quotations from students relevant to each) will be presented. Matriculation data will be reported where available.
Conclusion: Students from underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged backgrounds participating in post-baccalaureate programs can add diversity to the dental student body. Limitations (small sample, qualitative research) prevent definitive conclusions and further research is needed to define the participants of post-bac programs and their narratives. These findings have the potential of informing future directions for programs aimed at enhancing diversity in the dental profession.
AADR/CADR Annual Meeting
2014 AADR/CADR Annual Meeting (Charlotte, North Carolina) Charlotte, North Carolina
2014 919 Education Research
Borovska, Stefana
( University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
; University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Mugatash, Imad
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Valenzuela, Melissa
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Aghassi, Marodin
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Yegani, Mina
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Thomas, Jasmine
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Chapa, Rachel
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Kaing, Ammera
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Castellanos, Jennifer
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Seo, Jung
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Kim, Michael
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Elashi, Yaser
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Godoy, Andrew
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Ukaigwe, Bryant
( San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
)
Poster Session
Dental Education Research II
03/21/2014
